cagey

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
11
Words With Friends
12
Letters
5
Pronunciation
/ˈkeɪd͡ʒi/

Definition of cagey

2 senses · 1 part of speech · etymology included

adj

  1. Wary, careful, shrewd.
    “Samara: I will be in the shadows watching, Shepard. You will never be alone -- this I swear. But you cannot barge in with guns and allies. Samara: Morinth is far too cagey -- she'd simply disappear. This is a subtle, delicate act. Trust me.”
    “But with both sides in the Premier League's bottom three before the game began, the three points at stake made for a cagey match.”
See all 2 definitions

adj

  1. Wary, careful, shrewd.
    “Samara: I will be in the shadows watching, Shepard. You will never be alone -- this I swear. But you cannot barge in with guns and allies. Samara: Morinth is far too cagey -- she'd simply disappear. This is a subtle, delicate act. Trust me.”
    “But with both sides in the Premier League's bottom three before the game began, the three points at stake made for a cagey match.”
  2. Uncommunicative; unwilling or hesitant to give information.
    “John F Kennedy’s secret talks with Soviet intelligence, surreptitious tape recordings and “girlfriend system” create a new portrait of a cunning and cagey JFK, according to a historian who has researched a treasure trove of recently released recordings and papers of the late president.”

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

Initially US colloquial, of unknown origin. A connection with the behavior of caged prisoners (wary and closed-lipped) and caged animals (wary) has been speculated. If so, by surface analysis, cage + -y.

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